Five Things Learnt from Chelsea/Arsenal

Chelsea end miserable run as Arsenal saw Gabriel and Santi Cazorla see red! 

Chelsea ended their dismal run of results and got their Premier League campaign back on track with a feisty 2-0 win over London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

A bad tempered first half erupted just before the break when Gunners defender Gabriel saw red for clashing with Blues striker Diego Costa, who was perhaps a little lucky to be on the pitch himself.

The champions made their numeric advantage pay after the break when Kurt Zouma nodded Chelsea ahead after a sublime Cesc Fabregas free-kick.

Any hopes Arsenal had of an unlikely comeback receded when Santi Cazorla was also shown red, receiving his marching orders for a second bookable offence after his mistimed tackle on Fabregas.

Eden Hazard made sure of the points when his shot deflected off Calum Chambers in stoppage time.

It would be unfair to say Mike Dean directly affected the outcome of this game considering that Chelsea were by far the better team before the first red card and had a legitimate penalty appeal turned down when Gabriel wrestled Hazard to the ground.

Five Things We Learned From Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Here are the five things we learned from this game:

5) Diego Costa- The Premier League’s biggest wind up merchant.

Diego Costa was at it from the word go, Costa went down and started waving an imaginary card to try and get Francis Coquelin booked… It wasn’t even a foul.

This was a sign of things to come and Arsenal should have been smart enough not to take the bait.

So when Costa had a bust-up with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel, they should have been smart enough not to rise to it.

While Koscielny managed to keep his cool, Gabriel reacted with a petulant flick of the heel right under the nose of the referee and that was enough to get himself sent off.

Costa should also have been sent off, but dark-arts Costa’s offences ran under the radar of referee Mike Dean.

Its very difficult to have any sympathy for Arsenal. Every club in the Premier League knows what Diego Costa is like, to rise to it is nothing short of stupidity.

4) Handshakes are meaningless. 

Jose Mourinho was determined to shake hands with Arsene Wenger.

You suspect it was more about seizing a chance to take the moral high ground rather than actually wanting to end the long-running feud.

Neither party looked particularly thrilled at the prospect of physical contact.

This was more of a ‘end the talk’ action, rather then a ‘bury the hatchet’ one.

3) John Terry is on his way out.

Love him or loath him, Terry is being eased out of Stamford Bridge.

Not being included in the starting line-up in a game of such magnitude would have hurt him Chelsea‘s ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ deeply.

It’s also a clear indication that Jose Mourinho now see’s the former England captain as the weak link in a back four that has been solid for a decade.

Personally, I don’t agree. I still regard John Terry as the countries best centre back and natural leader. But Mourinho clearly feels his age and pace have affected his ability to perform at the level of last season and as such, he should make way.

This could be a very long and sad goodbye.

2) Oscar is under-rated.

The old saying of ‘you don’t know what you have until you loose it’ rings a bell when discussing Chelsea‘s No8. Oscar was perhaps the surprise in an attack minded team, playing in the No10 role.

Despite frequently being omitted from big games over the past few seasons, the difference he has made to Chelsea since returning from injury has been nothing short of amazing. Since returning from injury, Chelsea have improved their creative abilities as well as their defensive.

He is an important player for Chelsea and they look better with him in the starting line-up.

1) Chelsea have still got the measure of Arsenal.

While most expected one of Chelsea’s defenders to be the weakest link. It was in fact Nacho Monreal who was left most exposed.

After Arsenal narrowly beat an unfit and jet lagged Chelsea side in the Community Shield, many thought that they had finally got the better of Chelsea and Mourinho.

However, normal service was resumed and Arsene Wenger, who has managed just one win in 14 games against Jose Mourinho, suffered another defeat making it one win in 15.

Some teams just have the measure of others. Playing Arsenal was a dream for Chelsea. It gets them firmly back on track.